US President George W. Bush signed a bill Friday to implement
unfulfilled recommendations made by the panel set up to investigate
the 9/11 terror attacks.
This legislation, dubbed as "9/11 law," requires mandatory
screening of incoming freight shipments with a three-year deadline
for air cargo and five years for sea.
It also increases federal aid for areas believed to be at the
greatest risk of terrorist attack.
The bill "builds upon the considerable progress we have made in
strengthening our defenses and protecting Americans since the
attacks of Sept. 11, 2001," Bush said at the signing ceremony.
He also seized the opportunity to urge the Congress to act soon
on changes to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, which
dates from the 1970s, predating cell phones and the Internet.
The measure is aimed to implement unfulfilled recommendations
that the independent 9/11 Commission made three years ago in the
wake of the terror attacks in 2001.
It was passed by the House and the Senate last week.
In 2004, the independent 9/11 Commission issued 41
recommendations covering domestic security, intelligence gathering
and foreign policy.
Some of them have been implemented, including the creation of a
director of national intelligence, tightening land border screening
and cracking down on terror financing.
(Xinhua News Agency August 4, 2007)
